Chundong followed Gu Fengjian out of the main hall, walking along the deserted corridor. She quickened her pace to catch up with him, asking, “Miss, why is Third Madam so afraid of General Fu? Her face turned pale the moment you mentioned him.”
“Her son and husband both serve in the Imperial Insignia Guards, so naturally she’s afraid.” Gu Fengjian took large strides, accustomed to walking this way, and said lightly, “General Fu, considering that they are relatives, has shown them no small amount of care in the past. They received favors from the He family, yet they are still so ungrateful. How can they expect things to be so easy?”
“I see!“ by carpreads.pages.dev
Having understood the reason, Chundong felt even more indignant. She recalled Third Aunt Song’s attitude earlier, knowing that the other woman was always this arrogant, and she immediately felt that the young lady was too wronged.
Chundong was still unsure of her new mistress’s temperament, so she tentatively asked, “Then, miss, are we going to visit General Fu?”
Gu Fengjian’s lips curled slightly: “Of course we are going. I didn’t want to bother with her, but she insisted on reminding me.” Especially when he was so bored.
Song Chuzhao had not returned to the capital for many years, and no one had guided her, so she probably had no idea about the intricate web of interests hidden in the capital. The Song family took advantage of this, accepting favors on one hand while bullying her on the other. They treated her as a mere sheltered young lady, ignorant and naive, incapable of resistance, someone they could manipulate at will.
Fortunately, Gu Fengjian was well-informed about the private relationships between officials in the various departments of the capital. These matters… could be exploited!
Chundong immediately said happily, “Then I’ll prepare some gifts. Whenever the young lady wants to go, I’ll go with you!”
Gu Fengjian: “No rush.”
The two of them walked through several paths, the location becoming increasingly secluded. By the time they finally returned to Song Chuzhao’s dilapidated little courtyard, Chundong’s face was about to crack from trying not to smile.
Standing at the entrance, she looked at the neglected courtyard, especially the murky old water jar under the eaves that had been there for countless years, and said dumbfoundedly, “Miss, have you been living in this place since you came back?”
Gu Fengjian “hmm"ed, pushing the door open and walking into the house.
Chundong circled the courtyard twice, held back, and then quietly followed.
She scanned every corner, noticing that everything in the house was very old and incomplete. There was only some basic furniture. She reached out and touched it, finding no dust, it was actually quite clean.
However, she didn’t know that Gu Fengjian had forced Miao’er to clean the house a few days ago. If she saw its original state, she would probably be furious.
Chundong asked, “Why does the young lady put up with the Song family’s insults?”
She observed the commotion today, and it was clear that Old Madam Song had harbored resentment towards Song Chuzhao for a long time. Perhaps those rumors spread outside were also instigated by them.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Chundong wouldn’t have believed it. They were family after all, how could they be so cruel.
She wondered what kind of life Third Girl Song lived in the mansion every day.
Gu Fengjian dropped the book in his hand, sat down behind the desk, and said, “They are elders after all.”
Chundong mumbled, “The young lady is so kind-hearted.”
She had witnessed it today, and she realized that Third Miss Song wasn’t incapable of dealing with others, she just had a good temper and endured it. But the Song family took advantage of her kindness and pushed her to this point.
Gu Fengjian nodded: “Hmm.” He also thought he was.
Miao’er knocked on the door, not daring to enter. She lowered her head and quietly asked if there was anything she could do.
Gu Fengjian said without looking up, “No need.”
Chundong, hearing his tone, understood that he didn’t like Miao’er much, so she walked over and stood in front of the door, saying, “Third Miss has nothing to do now, she doesn’t need anyone to serve her. If you have time, go and sweep the fallen leaves in the courtyard and clean the corners.”
She hadn’t said anything before, but as soon as she mentioned cleaning, Miao’er’s entire face turned pale. She trembled slightly, then turned and ran away.
Chundong was baffled, and casually said, “What’s wrong with the maids in the Song mansion? Just asking them to sweep the courtyard, they’re so reluctant.”
Gu Fengjian nodded in agreement again.
Chundong sighed, “It’s too unfair to the young lady!”
Chundong went to the next room, put down her things, and tidied up a bit. Then it was time for dinner.
Gu Fengjian didn’t want to eat with the Song family again, so he asked Chundong to bring some food from the kitchen and eat it in the courtyard. Chundong agreed, not particularly happy to see those faces again, and ran out cheerfully.
She found a food container and stacked it four layers high, estimating that it could hold several dishes. She carried it happily.
The Song mansion had many servants, and the kitchen was large. When Chundong arrived, it was bustling with activity.
Several maidservants were coming and going, carrying freshly cooked soup out.
Chundong wondered. It was almost time for dinner, why hadn’t anyone come to her courtyard to tell her? If she came too late, wouldn’t she miss it?
Did the Song mansion not usually give Third Miss Song food?
Song Chuzhao was, after all, a well-bred young lady, a mistress. It was impossible for her to complain to a maid, especially a maid from another mansion, a new acquaintance.
Chundong had come this time to see if Third Miss Song was doing well, so she naturally paid attention to everyday details.
As she observed and pondered, she had just entered the gate when she was stopped.
The other woman was also a maid from the Song mansion, but her clothes were much more elegant than the others. The style, the fabric, were all nicer, and she wore a hair ornament. She must be one of the most favored maids.
She smiled at Chundong, “I haven’t seen you before. Are you a new maid in the mansion?”
Chundong said, “I’m from Third Miss’s room. I’m here to get some food.”
Chundong moved to the side, but the other woman also moved, deliberately blocking her path.
The maid said, “The Song mansion’s masters always eat together. It’s not proper for Third Miss to eat alone in her room. Please ask your mistress to go to the dining hall for dinner.”
Chundong’s face was not good, but her voice was still calm. “My Miss has just arrived in the capital, and there are many things she’s not used to. She’s not feeling well today and wants to stay alone, so as not to worry her family. There’s no need to talk about what’s proper or not. Are the rules of your Song mansion stricter than those of the palace?”
The maid said, “Is there something wrong with your Miss? Is she unhappy about eating with her family?”
Seeing that she was not polite, Chundong also spoke to her sarcastically. “Why is the young lady unhappy? Who did she see that made her unhappy? It’s not for us servants to ask. She doesn’t want to go, so she won’t go. If you’re worried about our Miss, ask your master to go to my Miss’s room and ask her personally. I’m clumsy with my mouth, I’m afraid I’ll get the message wrong.”
She said no more to the other woman, but shoved her aside with her shoulder and walked past.
“For tonight’s meal, serve some out for Third Miss. I’ll take it to her courtyard.”
Chundong put the food container down by the stove and gestured to the cook who was stir-frying.
But the people in the courtyard were busy, and no one paid any attention to her.
The maid from before laughed and walked out arrogantly.
Chundong was angered. She grabbed a nearby servant and asked, “Who is she?”
The servant was stunned for a moment and replied, “She’s Second Miss’s maid.”
Chundong was not someone who would be bullied in the Gu mansion. Usually, she was the one scolding the disobedient servants. Madam Gu had told her to come and let her loose, not to be restrained.
She simply said fiercely, “Get the food to me!”
The servant stared, completely unable to understand how the woman who had been polite and smiling sweetly a moment ago had suddenly become so fierce. She was like a bandit.
Soon, someone brought out several plates and filled Chundong’s food container.
Chundong looked down and smiled.
Every dish was green.
It would have been fine if they were just green, but the leaves were withered and yellow, clearly not fresh.
She let go of the tray and pushed the person who had brought it in with force.
“Goodness!” Chundong took the dishes out of the tray and slammed them down on the stovetop, exclaiming loudly, “I thought the Song Mansion was a wealthy household, surely they wouldn’t mistreat their own family. Old Madam Song lives a simple life, and only eats these clear soups and bland dishes on a daily basis. I admire her for that, but our young master specifically asked me to come help take care of Third Miss, and I can’t bear to see her eat these leftovers every day.”
The kitchen staff had various expressions on their faces. There was fear, indifference, sarcasm, and worry, a complex mix of emotions.
Chundong didn’t even look at them, she just gathered the empty food containers and pretended to walk out. She walked very slowly, pausing with each step, but her speech was rapid.
“Our young lady is now practically part of the Duke Gu’s household, her status is very high! The Song Mansion might be stingy with their expenses, but our Gu Mansion is not. Since that’s the case, I’ll tell Madam Gu about this, and from now on, please have the Gu Mansion send some hot meals every day. To think that our hard-working General Song, who endures hardship and toil on the border, has a daughter who lives such a frugal life back in the capital! She should be held up as a model for everyone to learn from!”
Before she could reach the kitchen door, someone grabbed her.
“Wait! This sister, please wait!”
The kitchen steward rushed out, his face plastered with a smile, “These servants are truly incompetent, these dishes were leftovers that I told them to throw away, and they mistakenly thought they were to be served to Third Miss! If it weren’t for you reminding us, it would have been a real embarrassment! Old Madam loves the younger generation the most, how could she possibly let our young lady eat such things?”
“So that’s how it is?” Chundong laughed exaggeratedly, “Then where is our young lady’s food?”
The steward responded repeatedly, “Please wait a moment, it will be ready soon, we’ll have it ready soon! Please take a seat here for a while, I’ll prepare it for you right away!”
Chundong found a chair by the door and sat down, her eyes fixed on the steward as he ladled Song Chuzhao’s food into a food container, pointing and gesturing with her hands.
“That piece of meat, it seems to be quite well-stewed.”
“That fish, the middle part is the most delicious. Is the tail meat for the master?”
“Our young lady is delicate, she needs to drink more soup. That small bowl isn’t enough, is it?”
“My young lady loves to eat vegetables, more vegetables.”
“…”
When Chundong came out again, she had a heavy food container in her hand.
She walked steadily and quickly, sneering to herself: Can’t handle those dogs who look down on people?
She turned a corner and returned to the side courtyard, where she saw the maid who had argued with her earlier standing outside the courtyard fence.
The two of them saw each other, and their eyes rolled up to the sky.
Chundong pulled her sleeve and pushed her aside, grumbling, “What are you doing blocking the courtyard gate? You don’t even let people pass, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were a dog.”
The other maid was furious, “You—”
Chundong turned her head coldly and strode towards Gu Fengjian’s residence.
As she approached the door, she heard two voices talking inside.
One was a strange woman, who was accusing the other in a furious tone, “You were engaged to Fifth Son Gu, you knew all along, and you deliberately didn’t say anything, were you waiting to see me make a fool of myself? Thankfully, this hasn’t spread yet, otherwise, how do you want me your Second Sister to face the world?”
Gu Fengjian’s voice still couldn’t be discerned as happy or angry, but it was full of sarcasm, “You only ask others if they are laughing at you, why don’t you ask yourself what you’ve done that deserves to be laughed at?”
Song Shiwen said, “Third Sister! Second Sister has been kind to you, how can you treat me like this! We are all family, I just want to be harmonious. If Father knew, wouldn’t he be heartbroken?”
Gu Fengjian said, “I’ve only been back in the capital for a short time, I’m curious, how many generous gifts have you sent me. Feel free to check the things in this room. If you want anything, just take it, I’ll have Chundong buy a new one.”
Chundong laughed and knocked twice on the door, calling out loudly, “Miss, it’s time to eat!”
The conversation inside stopped for a moment, and Song Shiwen walked out with a dark face.
“Oh, Second Miss is here!” Chundong feigned surprise and invited, “The cooks in the back kitchen felt sorry for our Miss and sent all the good things over here. Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us?”
Song Shiwen coldly left a “No need” and stormed off in anger.
Chundong ignored her, carried the things inside, closed the door, and said, “Miss, come and eat.”
She laid out the dishes one by one, still grumbling, “The servants in this Song Mansion are truly ridiculous. They actually wanted to serve yesterday’s leftovers to Miss. Miss is the legitimate daughter of General Song, how dare they do such a thing!”
Gu Fengjian sat down at the table, adjusting his robe, and Chundong handed him the chopsticks, smiling, “Miss, eat while it’s hot.”
Song Chuzhao was a martial artist, and she consumed a lot of energy in her daily training, so she ate a lot. Her stomach had become accustomed to it. After Gu Fengjian switched bodies with her, his appetite also increased significantly. If he didn’t eat enough, he felt unbearably hungry. Two or three bowls of rice per meal was normal.
Chundong was unaware of this. She had brought at least two people’s worth of food, thinking that with Song Chuzhao’s physique, she would surely leave half of it behind.
But the plates kept getting emptier, even the soup was almost finished, and Gu Fengjian still showed no sign of stopping.
The expression on Chundong’s face became increasingly stiff, and she could no longer maintain her composure.
Her scrutinizing gaze was too obvious, and Gu Fengjian couldn’t ignore it. Finally, he turned his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Chundong hesitated, carefully asking, “Miss, how is the food in this Song Mansion usually?”
Gu Fengjian chewed the food in his mouth carefully, swallowing before saying, “Not good.”
Chundong understood. She thought to herself: she didn’t get enough to eat.
How hateful! Look at what they’ve done to their Zhaozhao!
A delicate and soft beauty, eating twice as much as their Fifth Young Master!
Chundong advised, “Miss, if you can’t eat anymore, stop. Be careful not to overeat and hurt your stomach.”
Gu Fengjian was also almost full, so he put down his chopsticks and said, “Oh.”
Chundong felt even more heartbroken by his demeanor.
Such a well-behaved Miss, how could she be so miserable?
Chundong quickly cleared the table, emptying it and asking Miao’er to take it to be washed.
When she returned to the room, Gu Fengjian was already sitting behind the desk. He asked, “Are you going back to the Gu Mansion tomorrow?”
Chundong paused, thinking to herself, how did Miss know she was going back to report? Is she trying to stop her?
Gu Fengjian flipped through a few books, holding them in his hand and saying, “When you go back, find Fifth Young Master and borrow a few books for me.”
Chundong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, “Yes. What books would Miss like to read?”
“Those few books by Master Min.” Gu Fengjian listed the names of the books. If he could, he would have liked to move the entire study here, but it wouldn’t be appropriate.
“Let’s start with these.” Gu Fengjian said regretfully, “Get these five for me first.”
Chundong hesitated for a moment, carefully advising, “Those books by Master Min are very precious to Young Master, he doesn’t like lending them to others.”
Gu Fengjian pushed the storybook in his hand towards her, smiling, “Then use these books to trade with her.”
Wasn’t this the ‘Tale of the Demon Slayer’? Their Fifth Young Master probably hadn’t seen something like this in his entire life, had he?
Chundong’s fingers trembled again. She said delicately, “Young Master usually… doesn’t like to read these kinds of storybooks. If Miss wants to give him a gift, it doesn’t have to be a book.”
Gu Fengjian thought to himself, Song Chuzhao should be very interested in reading it now.
These books were all new. She probably just bought them and left them here to gather dust. She hadn’t had a chance to appreciate them yet.
Gu Fengjian insisted, ‘Just give it to her. She’ll accept it.’
Chundong didn’t quite believe him. Her thoughts were complex as she took the books. After pondering for a while, she thought, ‘Could this be a test?’
Using the books that Fifth Young Master liked the most to see if he care about her.
Third Miss’s thoughts were truly… too subtle!
Chundong said, ‘Miss, I’m going to tell Fifth Young Master about the Song Mansion servants bullying you!’
Gu Fengjian looked at her suspiciously and said, “She knows.”
Chundong was excited. ‘Fifth Young Master knows? When did he… oh.’
She giggled, “Then this servant understands.”
Gu Fengjian: “…” You’re quite clever, aren’t you.
Early the next morning, Chundong took Gu Fengjian’s books and hurried back to the Gu Mansion.